(TibetanReview.net, Apr15’26) – China appears to be acting as if it is in danger of losing control over Nepal after the marginalisation of the country’s communist parties in the aftermath of the recent general election results. Despite assurances by Nepal’s new government that it will continue the China policy of the previous administrations, including the’ “One China” stance, Beijing remains jittery that it may attend the swearing in of the exile Tibetan government’s re-elected Sikyong Penpa Tsering later this year, an entirely uncalled for fear.
Meeting Home Minister Sudan Gurung on Apr 13 for “very candid but straightforward” talk, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Zhang Maoming pressed Gurung on a range of concerns related to Tibetan and Taiwanese activities in Nepal and sought assurances that Kathmandu would not become a stage for foreign interests hostile to Beijing, reported the kathmandupost.com Apr 14.
Citing two officials who were present at the meeting, the report said the Chinese ambassador raised issues including the registration status of Tibetan refugees in Nepal and flagged what he described as continued “separatist” activities by Tibetans on Nepali soil.
Most of the around 20,000 Tibetan refugees living in Nepal for decades remain unregistered, and therefore lack any legal status, due to objections from Beijing.
“He also drew Gurung’s attention to reports of Taiwan-related activity in Kathmandu, citing a cultural event in the capital last month where a Taiwanese flag was briefly displayed,” the report quoted one of the officials as saying.
Both Nepali officials, one from the Home and the other from the Foreign Ministry, have spoken on condition of anonymity to be able to freely discuss the details of the meeting.
* * *
Gurung had faced baseless online accusations of having supported the Tibetan refugee youth during last September’s Gen Z protests. He strongly objected to attempts to discredit his political campaign by linking it to the Free Tibet movement and foreign powers, the report noted.
The ambassador’s most pointed warning was stated to be his concern about an upcoming Tibetan event in India: the swearing-in of Mr Penpa Tsering for a second five-year term as the Sikyong (executive head) of the Central Tibetan Administration, which takes place in late May in Dharamshala. Tsering won the election by more than 60% votes in the first round poll held in February, thus avoiding a final round.
China’s party mouthpiece globaltimes.cn Apr 7 carried a lengthy criticism of the exile Tibetan elections, calling it an “election without a land” and “an institutional illusion created by separatist groups in exile”.
The report said Zhang cautioned Gurung against any government-level Nepali participation in the ceremony. “They might invite the government of Nepal to the oath-taking ceremony, so I would like to draw your attention to this matter,” the ambassador was stated to have told Gurung.
* * *
Gurung has assured Zhang that nothing of this sort will happen.
“During the meeting, our home minister clearly stated that the Nepal government upholds the principle position on the Tibetan issue that it has been upholding for a long, and will not allow its land to be used against China,” Home Ministry spokesperson Anand Kafle has said. “He also assured that the Nepal government is ready to contain such activities.”
Gurung reaffirmed Nepal’s commitment to the “One China” principle and said Kathmandu’s positions on Tibet and Taiwan would remain unchanged. “We are determined and committed to the country’s sovereignty and territory and will not be the pawn of any foreign power,” he told the ambassador, the officials have said.
The report cited officials as saying Beijing’s concern centred on a perceived pattern: the Dalai Lama and Penpa Tsering both congratulated the (interim) Karki government and Balendra Shah, separately, for holding elections successfully and being elected as the prime minister.
The report cited Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, former Nepali ambassador to China, as saying the Chinese were deeply concerned about the congratulatory message being delivered by the Tibetan leaders to the prime ministers of Nepal.
“The visit of the Dalai Lama’s representative and the respect given to them in Kathmandu has irked the Chinese. They see a pattern of anti-China activities in Nepal over the past couple of months,” Shrestha has said.
Some Chinese strategic circles interpret the consecutive changes in Kathmandu’s leadership as a potential westward tilt aimed at encircling China, the report said.